Daniel Freund

For a Federal Republic of Europe

I believe it is time for the European Union to make a step forward again. Only in this way can we meet the challenges of the future without repeating the mistakes of the past. Because up to now, crises have always occurred in the EU where integration has progressed but got stuck halfway: we can travel across borders in the EU, but we have no common rules for immigration and asylum. With the euro we have a common currency, but no common economic and social policy to counter the consequences of the euro crisis.

That is why I, together with many other Members of the European Parliament, am working for a more democratic and powerful Europe. We want to advance European integration so that Europe can speak with one voice in the world. We want a Europe that is even more democratic, transparent and social.

“Ever Closer Union”?

In 1957, the founding members of the European Economic Community – the forerunner of the European Union – signed the Treaties of Rome. Right in the preamble they expressed their determination “to lay the foundations for an ever closer union of the European peoples”. This has been one of the guiding principles of the European Union ever since – to create a closer community with every step forward. I believe that now is the time for a further step forward. The upcoming “Conference on the Future of the EU” is the ideal opportunity to do so. So let’s take it and take the next step towards the Federal Republic of Europe!

Conference on the future of Europe

The European elections in May 2019 showed that an overwhelming majority of Europeans* want more Europe and more democracy. For this reason, too, the push for a conference on the future of Europe is the right response to the political and institutional deadlock in Europe. Over the next two years, this process will develop reforms that will make the international community more capable of action, more democratic and closer to the citizens.

In doing so, the very people who will be most affected by these decisions will be involved: the European citizens*. In this process we need an open and honest debate on the state of the Union. We must identify those policy areas in which the problems of an entire continent can only be solved by a European approach.

The project must be ambitious in this way, because Europe must not continue to stand in its own way in crucial policy areas – climate, migration, defense, the economy – and must not allow itself to get in the way. Insisting on the status quo will only play into the hands of those who want to weaken or abolish Europe. Let us find answers for the citizens of the Union, from Portugal to Sweden, from Germany to Bulgaria. So that in future the European Union can represent our values and interests with a stronger voice on the world stage.

The Green Group in the European Parliament has elected me as its representative for the Conference on the Future of Europe. It is scheduled to begin in autumn 2020. The first citizens* assemblies will be held in spring 2021.

Why European top candidates?

Those who run for election and win should also be given the opportunity to assume responsibility in top political office. What sounds like unshakable democratic logic was unfortunately ignored in the search for a new EU Commission President after the last European elections in 2019. In the back room of the European Council, Ursula von der Leyen was picked out of a magic hat for the top European job. The actual election winner and top candidate of the EPP – Manfred Weber – went out empty-handed. This “deal” has cost the European Union a lot of trust and disappointed many in the European Parliament. The principle of the top candidate was actually considered to be settled and stood for a further strengthening of European democracy. In the European Parliament, I am advocating that the principle of the top candidate for the next European elections be firmly anchored in the electoral law. Only those who stand for election with a political program should be allowed to take on the European top job.

Incidentally, this also applies to all the other 27 posts in the EU Commission. Up to now, EU commissioners have been proposed by the EU member states, but are only confirmed by the parliament. The European voters should, however, decide for themselves who sets the political guidelines for the community of states. Only those who were elected on a European level should also determine European policy.

Why transnational lists?

In the past, European elections have often been a “pay-back election” for the national governments in the respective member states. No wonder: so far, only the names of national representatives are written on the ballot papers. As a German I can not vote a Finn into the European Parliament, although politicians here make European politics independent of their national origin. Although I agree with the views of a Romanian politician, I cannot give her my vote.

We are not able to create a European public in this way. That is why I support the introduction of transnational lists for the next European elections. EU-wide elections of candidates across national borders can break down national borders and build an EU-wide public sphere. Transnational lists offer parties the opportunity to draft EU-wide election programs and to address citizens throughout the European Union.

The European Union becomes an additional electoral constituency; the existing constituencies in the member states continue to exist. In a common constituency, political parties must implement genuine European projects and take into account the needs and situations of all citizens, not just those of voters in their own country.